Transgender Soldier Cites Christian Faith

The Colorado Springs Gazette covered local Fort Carson Soldier Staff Sgt Peter/Patricia King, who was born biologically male but now presents himself as female. In one respect, this is becoming so common that it almost isn’t newsworthy. On the other, the media attention is understandable given the US military’s current “transition” on transgender issues.

What make’s King’s story notable, though, is his constant reference to his religious faith. As cited in the article [emphasis added]:

“Being transgender doesn’t make me a pervert. It doesn’t make me a fetishist. It doesn’t make me a bad person, a bad soldier, a bad parent, or a bad Christian.” – from Patricia King’s blog…

She’s a father, a soldier, a Christian…

The hardest part of King’s journey may have been balancing her gender with her beliefs. A church-going Christian, King worried that her internal conflict with manhood was also a conflict with God.

In faith, though, she found shelter. At Vista Grande Community Church, she’s welcomed as a woman.

“It’s wonderful,” she said.

King said she’s teaching Sunday school…

Sin does not make a person a “bad” Christian; every Christian is guilty of sin. The question of whether one is a “bad” or “good” Christian is itself almost nonsensical, as it recalls Jesus’ admonishment that

Christians have believed that the body is a gift from God, for believers the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Despising the body to the point of repudiating birth gender is a posture in direct conflict with the Bible…

There can be no question that some persons suffer excruciating gender confusions. But the answer to this must be the embrace of birth gender as a central dimension of God’s will for the individual. Christians must understand that gender –the sex of an individual — is a part of God’s glory in creation. God’s own verdict on the creation of humanity as male and female, both made in His image, was that is was “very good.” The transgender temptation is a repudiation of God’s own verdict on His creation and His plan for humanity.

Without dismissing the emotions people feel on the issue, the fact remains that God created men and women as men and women. Advocates for sexual liberty denounce this:

Transgender advocate Fiona Dawson said people have a hard time understanding the difference between anatomical gender and the gender people embrace mentally.

“Gender is between your ears, not between your legs,” said Dawson…

If one wishes to stick to biology, it would be more accurate to say gender is in your chromosomes, not between your ears. Allowing for the occasional abnormality, XX and XY remain XX and XY, even despite hormone treatment or physical surgery.

The intent certainly isn’t to dismiss any person’s anguish over their perceptions of their gender, but Mohler makes the point of saying society is trying so hard to be accepting it is reluctant to draw any boundaries [emphasis added]:

The therapeutic revolution has deluded modern Americans into thinking that patterns of basic rebellion against God are means of self-liberation and therapy…

The sexual revolution has led to a society fixated on sex and reluctant to draw any clear boundaries. A worldview of nearly absolute non-judgmentalism leads the larger society to consider sexuality and sexual issues to be beyond the bounds of common concern.

Ultimately , the “sexual revolution” is a product of the morality of the modern culture, and the results, as one person expressed it, shouldn’t surprise any Christian.

As to the US military, it seems likely that it, too, will soon embrace service by openly transgender individuals, which may explain the near competition to be the “first openly transgender” in the US military.

For the record, King’s Vista Grande Community Church is a United Church of Christ congregation that proudly describes itself as “open and affirming.” It is led by the Rev Clare Twomey, who says she is married to another woman.

It seems the theology he hears on Sunday will align quite well with what he wants to hear.